It is absolutely spectacular. The art collection was donated to the New York Metropolitan upon Walter's death, but reproductions were created and are hung in the right spots, with the right frames. Most of the statues and figurines inside the residence are authentic, and the residence is still set up to host visiting dignitaries.

I was able to get some outside pictures, and I have linked to some fantastic inside pictures as no indoor photography is allowed.

We were pretty annoyed when we purchased a fireplace insert to heat the front of our house and it got installed with a big black electrical cord hanging out of it, running over to the outlet. We had specified with Wilshire Fireplace Shops that we wanted the fireplace hooked directly to the electricity (electrical starter), but the people sent out for the $400 install from the shop weren't contractors and couldn't take care of the electrical.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

There is a pattern to the contractor’s communications. First
the text, “Call me when you get a chance.” Usually I drop everything and call
immediately. “What’s up?”

“Hi Rebecca, we have a little problem.”

It appeared that the plank tiles specified in the plan and that the contractor special ordered from
Italy were not exactly 6x24 inch; they were instead 5¾ x 23½ inch. The 6x6 inch white semi-gloss
tiles had already been installed in both showers. The white squares were supposed
to line up in perfect rows with the 6x24 inch planks (the tile feature wall). That just wasn't going to work.

In hind site, there was a clue to the size difference. On the spec sheet for the 6x24 inch tiles, it also listed the metric size, in
perfect centimeters, 15x60. Were the tiles 6x24 inches or were they 15x60 centimeters? Can't be both. The tiles were manufactured in Italy, so a good guess would be that they were made in centimeters.

Here is the spec sheet for the tile we ordered. Can you see what is wrong?

Rebecca Gonzalez has spent the better part of her mid-century life reinventing, remodeling, redecorating, reorganizing and rearranging. Her biggest project to date is a phased renovation of her family's mid-century modern ranch house. Her focus is on mid-century and modern homes, architecture, furniture, art and remodeling. Home base is Southern California.